Protection: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance (22 page)

“Me, or McDonough? Safety, or the unknown? You have to choose.”

Tessa bit her lip again, the truth of the matter on the tip of her tongue. You’ll be safe, he’d said. It made her think of Camilla, and of Camilla’s safety. With a sinking heart, she did what was required.

A
ll Jace could do was pray
she’d make the right decision. This would be twice as hard if he had to protect her and kidnap her at the same time. The girl looked torn, indecision evident in her face. At last her shoulders sagged in resignation, decision made.

“Okay,” she said, dropping her gaze. The shame that radiated from her puzzled him, but he set it aside for the moment. The human was nothing if not proud. Jace could understand and sympathize with that.

“Best decision you’ve made all day, human,” he said.

The girl just bit her lip and looked worried, which didn’t do much to bolster Jace’s confidence. Good thing he was one tough son of a bitch. He had a thick skin, in both the literal and metaphorical senses.

Jace gripped Tessa’s shoulders, staring down into the stormy gray sea of her eyes. He watched her for long moments, trying to understand her appeal. Something had made him come after her. The expression on her face, or maybe the self-loathing in her voice when she’d turned to leave.

Whatever it was, Jace felt a compulsion to protect her. It was what Shifters ought to do for Ascendants, he told himself. Nothing personal; they did need protection during the delicate time preceding their first shape shift.

Not that Ascendants were short on suitors. Especially Ascendants that smelled as good as Tessa did. She was a walking cock tease, and not acting in her own self-interest. Her claim that she lacked offers of protection shocked him.

“Tessa…” he said, trying to explain himself.

He stopped. How could he explain something that he didn’t understand? All he knew was that he she drew him like a magnet, her pull irresistible to his lonely wolf. The draw was physical in its intensity, and he was of no mind to deny it just yet. That feeling, coupled with his white knight complex… he couldn’t just walk away from her.

She shifted, brought her hands up to push him back a half step. That brief touch made his muscles clench, made him long to close the small distance between them. Hell, having enough space to get a good look at the girl wasn’t helping his situation any.

She had a nice body, for a human. Petite and lean, but with generous enough breasts and a shaped ass. Her breasts and ass would fit just right in his big hands. And she had that curly blonde hair… Hair made to fist a hand in as he held her from behind, pressing ass up against his aching-

“How do you know my name, exactly?” Tessa asked, cutting in on his thoughts.

Jace swallowed, mouth gone dry. He was unsure how to respond, imagining the true answer in his head.

Well, see, I smelled you at a gas station in downtown. You smelled and looked so wonderful that I didn’t even realize you’re on the human side of Ascendance. I snapped a photo, called in a favor, found your name in the NSA’s database. Since then I’ve been stalking you, following you for two days. Trying to convince myself to either approach you or leave you alone. Nice to finally meet you. Did I mention that you look and smell delicious?

Jace stopped himself. She had beautiful, deep-set eyes, if she didn’t look so crazed at the moment. Humans never crossed the line from attractive to sexy for Jace, although Tessa was tempting. It was her Ascendant pheromones. They screamed at him that she needed a good, hard-

“Mr.. uhh.. Jace? Aren’t you supposed to be telling me how you know my name? Or about how you sprout hair and howl at the moon?” said the girl. She waved her hand in front of his face.

“It’s just Jace, no Mr. needed. And I don’t howl at the moon, human.”

He might have done it once or twice, but she didn’t need to know that.

“And my name?” she prodded.

“I know a lot of things about a lot of people,” Jace answered.

Tessa crossed her arms, irritation washing away the traces of fear in her expression. She didn’t respond, just pressed her lips together to show dissatisfaction. She was testy, but Jace preferred feisty women. He just didn’t need the distraction of any female at this particular moment.

He didn’t need one around at any time, to be truthful. They were all brazen temptresses, using the lure of sex to trap men in the webs they called relationships. They would flaunt their bodies, and even the bravest men would fall prey. Jace wasn’t about to make that mistake. He was to protect, and nothing more.

Jace and his wolf took a big gulp of the pheromone-perfumed air and grumbled in a pleased tone. The wolf didn’t understand why Jace hadn’t dragged Tessa to a more private place by now and mated her. Jace ignored his wolf’s seedy thoughts and focused on proving himself to the girl. Again, just here to protect.

“Are you coming with me or not?,” he snapped, losing patience. “Because I can just let Jasper claim you as his mate. Maybe the forced mating and degradation from his pack would be way less awful than what I’ve heard.”

Tears welled in her eyes, but she didn’t let them fall. He’d pushed her, trying to frighten her into compliance, but instead she looked furious. She opened her mouth to retort, but Jace stiffened and looked around. The female followed his lead, wiping her eyes.

“We’re out of time,” Jace said. “McDonough is here. I can smell him. He’s back in human form, but he’s got friends. You’re going with me, or you’re going with him. Either way, you’re going.”

She looked up at him with big eyes, all the fury vanished. She nodded, and his wolf growled with pleasure.

Jace grabbed her elbow and pulled her toward the back exit. He knew this area well; the coffee shop patio sat on a quiet back alley that led several blocks in both directions. He paused, trying to get a bead on McDonough’s location. He listened hard for a few seconds. The noise of traffic and pedestrians made it impossible to locate McDonough by sound.

Jace stepped off the open patio and into the cobblestone alley. He looked both directions, waiting several seconds. Nothing, aside from the indistinct waft of McDonough’s scent.

Jace tugged Tessa into the alley, putting a finger to his lips in warning. Instinct guided him to the left, and he went with it.

As they moved, Jace’s mind raced. How the hell was McDonough already moving around? He couldn’t have recovered so fast; he’d still be moving around with a serious wound. A blond giant, sporting a bleeding leg wound, followed around by a bunch of rough-looking thugs… McDonough was just asking for a police intervention at this point. His actions reeked of desperation.

Jace’s concern grew. A desperate man was a dangerous man, and a Shifter male desperate for a mate was even worse. Jace needed a plan, and he needed it yesterday.

He racked his brain. His motorcycle was just a few blocks away, stashed behind a local grocery store. If they could make it to his bike, they might be able to outrun their pursuers.

“We need to move faster,” Jace advised the girl.

“Your legs are twice as long as mine. I can’t help that,” she retorted.

Jace looked at her expression for a split second, and then let it go. Arguing with the human wasn’t going to get them far. He led the way, speeding up to fall in with a tour group. Rather than head straight for his motorcycle, Jace pulled Tessa into the thick of the group, ignoring the tour guide’s lecture on the French Quarter’s ghost-laden past. He took Tessa’s hand in his own and gave her a look, hoping that she’d understand his plan. The name of the game was ‘Hide In Plain Sight’.

They made it almost three blocks before Jace knew they were in trouble. He could see a hulking figure far down the street, moving toward them with supernatural speed. If one of the pack members spotted them, he would signal the others.

Turning his head, Jace saw that it was too late. The rest of the pack were only half a block behind them, McDonough limping as he led the charge.

A gunshot rang out, and the tourist group scattered. Jace saw that all of McDonough’s men had guns drawn, and it floored him. Shifters didn’t use guns, period. He’d taken that for a given fact, considering Tessa’s half-human fragility, and the little Jace knew of McDonough.

The shot went wide, and Jace couldn’t decide if it was intentional or not. Jace snarled a curse, furious with the enemy’s desperate maneuvering. Not only would the cops arrive in a matter of minutes, but Tessa could be killed in the cross fire. This was flat-out insane.

Their desperation meant they must be planning to mate the girl right away. Ascendant females were few and far between, and with the Alabama pack’s bad reputation no Ascendant with half a brain would choose to go with them. There was a sick kind of logic to their actions. Tessa’s situation was looking worse by the minute.

Jace pushed Tessa forward so he could block her from gunshots, but she backpedaled. She’d seen the man approaching from the front and wouldn’t take another step forward.

“They’re going to trap us!” she said.

“Maybe not.”

Jace grabbed her and half-carried her, zig-zagging across the street and around the corner. When she struggled, Jace swept Tessa’s legs up and cradled her close.

He tucked her head in toward his chest, and then ran flat-out. Shots rang out as he turned another corner, relief flooding him when he found himself on another tourist-heavy block. Another shot fired, this one much too close for comfort. Tessa gave a little cry, flinching at the sound.

It seemed humans weren’t as used to being targets as your average Shifter.

Jace gritted his teeth and pushed himself harder. He came around another corner and came out on Royal St., spotting the Rouses’s grocery store on the corner. His bike was parked on the street, just a dozen yards away. He’d have to shake the gunmen before he could get the girl onto the bike.

Jace got to the door of the grocery store, pushing inside. A shot rang out, and humans panicked all around. A police officer stood just inside the door, his hand dropping to his weapon.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Jace dropped Tessa to her feet. He shuffled her further inside and turned to the door. He grabbed the metal handle and twisted it hard, bending it to warp the door and make access more difficult. There were other doors, but he planned to be long gone before that became an issue. He picked up Tessa again and beat feet.

“Hey!” she shrilled.

Jace ignored her panicked cry. He sprinted toward the back of the store, knocking over several people and half the displays on his way to the stock room. He’d been in this store enough times to know that there were restrooms in the back stock area, and a door that led back out to the street.

Jace rolled his eyes when he heard Tessa talking over his back, leaning up to apologize to an older lady who’d been in their way moments before. The girl worried about propriety right now? Jesus.

Jace dashed to the side exit. After a quick check to make sure their pursuers had followed them inside the store, Jace pushed out into the bright New Orleans sunlight. He put Tessa down and dragged her over to his bike.

“What are we-” she got out before Jace stuffed a helmet onto her head. He tore off his jacket and put it on her, then climbed on and started the bike.

Tessa hesitated, and Jace turned to her with a furious look. She was still scrambling onto the seat behind him when he started backing out of the spot. Moments later, they were racing away from Royal St.

Jace chuckled as they hit the street. McDonough’s men were outside the grocery store, staring after them. He’d laughed too soon, though. A huge black sedan pulled up and the men climbed inside. Jace gunned the engine of his bike and swerved to avoid a city bus, then began weaving his way up to the heavier traffic of Rampart St. The SUV barreled after them, gaining too fast for Jace’s liking.

Jace had two choices: slow down, or do some serious maneuvering. If he slowed down, the sedan would doubtless catch up to them. If he maneuvered just a hair wrong, they'd both end up with serious road rash.

She could live with a little road rash, but not a bullet wound. With that thought Jace pushed the bike to full speed and prayed that he wouldn’t get her killed one way or the other.

W
hen Jace slowed
the motorcycle to a halt, it wasn’t the kind of place Tessa had expected. For one thing, they’d only driven maybe twenty minutes; about half of that time seemed to be used circling and cutting back to make sure they weren’t being followed.

It also wasn’t the nicest part of town. Tessa didn’t know much about New Orleans outside the French Quarter, but every ghetto she’d ever seen had looked almost exactly like this one. They’d passed several sets of ill-kept brick housing projects on the way here, making the neighborhood seem even less welcoming. This neighborhood was filled with long, skinny one-story houses in varying states of disrepair. The houses leaned this way and that at alarming angles. Every window and door was covered with thick security bars. People gathered in groups on their porches, staring at Tessa and Jace as they climbed off the bike.

Tessa pulled off the helmet, looking around. Jace store right up to a porchful of people, as comfortable as if he owned the place. A tall, thin young black man came down the steps. He gave Jace a long look, and then put out an expectant hand.

Tessa blinked. Jace clasped the man’s hand, and they executed a well-practiced series of complicated gestures. Then Jace held out the keys to his bike. The young man nodded before going back up to his porch.

Tessa opened her mouth to ask one of the hundred questions that sprang to mind, but Jace simply grabbed her arm and started towing her down the street. After a few blocks, Jace released her and walked across an ill-kept lawn to a dilapidated, bright pink shotgun-style home.

Jace pulled open the unlocked door and hustled Tessa inside. He held a finger up to his lips, motioning for her to stay put. He walked straight back through the long series of rooms that made up the house, checking everything out. He stopped at the back door, turning bolt locks to secure the door. That finished, he returned to the front room.

When Tessa sighed and started to speak, Jace shook his head. Again he motioned for her to stay put, slipping outside. She could hear him rustling through the overgrown grass on the side of the house, pulling at windows and checking the back door from the outside.

Tessa wasn’t sure if he was overprotective, or if she was in a lot more danger than she knew. Either way, it didn’t look good for her. He returned to her side, closing the front door behind him.

“Where are we?” Tessa asked, watching Jace engage the numerous locks on the front door.

“Safe house,” Jace grunted. He tested the doorknob to make sure everything was locked tight.

“Yours?” she asked.

“It belongs to the Louisiana pack.”

“If it’s yours, why was the door unlocked? Wouldn’t you have a key?”

“What good is a safe house that you can’t get into? It only needs to keep people out when someone is inside,” Jace grumbled, scanning the front room again.

Tessa wrinkled her nose. She turned and headed down the single hallway to give herself the tour.

The squat front room had only a cheap card table and two folding chairs as furniture. Though the outside of the house was grungy, the inside had been painted a startling white. It looked as if it had been cleaned very recently.

Next was a spotless bathroom, which boasted a brand new shower liner and an empty trashcan. Everything was the same stark white, making her stomach lurch a little. Ever since she’d been trapped in that prison cell, too much white made her queasy. She moved on to the next room.

A tiny, cramped kitchen awaited. A small fridge and stove, a couple of shelves stacked with simple aluminum camping plates and utensils, an open pantry with tons of canned goods. There was a hanging rack on the wall that held one pot, one frying pan, and a few spatulas.

The second to last room looked more like a bedroom. There was an impeccable and expensive-looking full-sized white mattress on the floor. Other than a single white floor lamp and a closet door, the room was bare.

The last room seemed to be for laundry or storage, but there was nothing in it. At the end of the house lay the back door, riddled with locks and drop bars. Jace followed her into the back room, testing and retesting the back door. He was starting to freak her out now.

“This place is frigging creepy,” Tessa remarked. She headed back to the front room, noting that all the windows were painted over with a thin coat of white paint. They let a little light in, but no one could see in or out.

“I don’t see why,” Jace replied. His tone was flat. He was busy checking each window, making Tessa notice that they’d been painted and nailed shut.

“Well… for one thing, it’s way too white. And all the floors are linoleum. This looks like a serial killer’s lair. You could just spray the whole place down if you had drains in the floor.”

Jace frowned at her, as if she shouldn’t know something like that. They came to a stop in the front room, Jace giving her a condescending look.

“That’s the point of a safe house. It’s anonymous. Anytime we use it, we have a crew come in and dump everything, remove every trace of evidence that we were here. No one knows about it except the pack members and Ronnie.”

“Ronnie?”

“The guy I gave my keys over to earlier. He takes care of things around here, whatever needs doing. Does that satisfy your curiosity, human?” he crossed his arms, leaning against the wall.

“Ronnie. That’s your go-to guy? He looks like a frigging gangster, not to mention he’s like sixteen years old max,” Tessa said with a frown.

A glint of amusement lit Jace’s eyes as he smirked at her.

“I’m gonna have to tell Ronnie that you said that. He’ll get a kick out of it.”

“Must be good genes,” Tessa said, laying the sarcasm on thick.

“Or the fact that he’s half elf. One of those two things,” Jace retorted, heading for the kitchen.

Tessa stood open-mouthed for a few long beats before she followed him.

“You’re kidding. You are kidding, right?”

Jace rummaged through the fridge, bent at an uncomfortable-looking angle just to get his head down that low. Christ, the man really was ridiculously tall. Now that Tessa was staring right at it, she noticed that he had a nice behind. It looked… grippable.

Tessa took a deep breath before asking again.

“Right, Jace? You were kidding?”

Jace straightened, popping the tab on a Coke. He took a long swig before turning his attention back to Tessa.

“Coke?” he offered.

Tessa shook her head. She wasn’t that big of a fan of carbonated drinks in general, they never tasted right to her.

Jace nodded and closed the fridge.

“I’m not kidding,” he said. His words were slow and hesitant, and his eyes scanned her face for a reaction.

Tessa pursed her lips, nonplussed.

“I’m just getting used to the idea of werewolves. I don’t think I can handle any other weird stuff right now.”

Jace cocked his head and leaned closer, making Tessa back up a pace. He was cocky. His stature and bad-boy demeanor made him too bold. Even in conversation, he didn’t ask questions. He demanded answers, and he gave back little enough information. Tessa sighed, barely listening as he reprimanded her.

“Don’t call us anything but Shifters. We don’t like to be confused with werewolves, they’re bastards.”

“There are werewolves, too?”

“Did I stutter, human?”

Tessa bit her lip, thinking. One part of her wanted to know more. Were there vampires, fairies, and unicorns too? The question sounded sarcastic, even in her mind. It was just that… a couple of hours ago, she hadn’t believed that Shifters were even real. The journalist in her mind demanded evidence, sources, photographs. She needed to see it to believe it.

Another part of Tessa firmly believed that the less she knew, the better. One day soon, she and Camilla were going back to their normal lives. The fairytales, the stories of creatures that went bump in the night… knowing that they were real would be a burden. Her inner journalist was already screaming with the need to tell the world that Shifters were real. No need to add any other magical creatures to the fire. The more she thought about it, the more the strangeness of it all began to overwhelm her.

“You look like you’re going to throw up,” Jace commented.

He set the Coke down and grabbed her wrist, tugging her a little closer as he felt for her pulse.

The sensation of his warm skin against hers and the closeness between their bodies hit Tessa like an electric shock. Her heart started galloping like a racehorse.

She wasn’t very used to being touched in general, and she’d been starved of any interaction in that horrible white prison cell. Any touch she’d received there had been violent. Not to mention, no one there had been as gorgeous as Jace Copeland. She stared at Jace, her mind flying back to her time at the prison. James, the horrible not-priest, the frightening nurses, the screams…

Fear and panic crept up her spine, wrapping their icy fingers around her heart. All the sudden her chest was tight; it was a struggle to draw breath. She closed her eyes and tried not to think of the Legion, of the danger she was in even now. If a walking threat like Jace Copeland was her lifeline, she was in dire straits.

Jace’s calloused thumb rubbed a circle against her palm; he still held her wrist, monitoring her pulse. She opened her eyes, holding back tears as she peered up at him. Jace frowned and dropped her hand.

Tessa let out a big whoosh of breath. The startling contact was cut short, only to be redoubled when Jace spun her shoulders around and propelled her into the bedroom.

Tessa’s breath caught in her throat as Jace hooked his foot around her ankle, making her fall forward onto the bare mattress. A voice inside her head screamed that she had to defend herself against him, but she was frozen. Even worse, a tiny voice in the back of her head said that it was bound to happen. She’d come here to seduce a Shifter; it was just happening sooner than she’d planned.

The choices Tessa made, the people she chose to trust… it was always going to come to this.

She pulled her arms and legs in close to her torso, trying to protect herself. Jace’s body didn’t come down next to hers, though. As she struggled to draw breath, Tessa turned her head to find Jace rooting through the closet. He produced a number of blankets and pillows, which he arranged around her body.

After several long moments Tessa’s chest relaxed a bit. She realized Jace was talking to her.

“…just get you comfortable, here,” he mumbled. “It’s okay, Tessa.”

Tessa wanted to tell Jace that he’d been half the reason for her panic. Good thing she was still out of breath; it would probably not endear her to Jace to admit that she’d thought he was a rapist.

Jace talked to her in a soothing voice as he pulled out more blankets and pillows and made a neat pallet next to the mattress. He took off his shoes and laid down on the pallet. She blinked, realizing that he had no intention of touching her again. His physical contact had stopped the moment he knew she was hale.

Silence lapsed. Her breathing evened out. Her muscles relaxed in increments, until Tessa regained full control of her body. The quietude stretched for a long time, though Tessa could sense that Jace wasn’t asleep.

When he broke the silence, she jumped. She’d been on the verge of sleep, somehow.

“Better?” he asked. His voice was tight.

“Yes. Thank you,” she said, flushing with embarrassment. “It’s all just a little too much, right now. I’m trying to keep my mind from racing.”

Jace was quiet for another long beat before responding.

“I could tell you a story or something,” he said. His hesitant words, his deep and rumbling voice… some flicker of tenderness lay there, and it touched her.

“I would like that,” Tessa whispered. She took a deep breath, trying to stay relaxed.

“I’ll tell you my sister’s favorite story,” he said, sitting up and settling his back against the wall. He cleared his throat and started to speak.